Royalty and Specialist Protection Unit Funding

Unmesh Desai: Please can you advise whether the funding for the Royalty and Specialist protection unit is provided in the form of a specific grant from central government, or whether this is paid for through the core police funding grant allocated to the Met?

The Mayor: A specific grant is received from Government to fully fund the Royalty and Specialist Protection unit.

Action Fraud

Tony Devenish: For each of the years, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, please provide the number of Fraud referrals made to the Met by Action Fraud, and the Sanction Detection Rates.

The Mayor: MPS Statistics do not count fraud offences under Home Office Counting Rules. Owing to their nature, offences are investigated where the offender operates (if known). Therefore, many offences reported in the MPS are not investigated by the MPS and there is no detection rate available.
Offences reported to the MPSand then referred to Action Fraud are as follows:
Year
Total
2016
11469
2017
9477
2018
9466
2019
9509

NPCC Aviation review

Tony Devenish: In reference to MQ 2019/12364, have you received a copy of the NPCC Aviation Review, if so, what is your assessment and will you share a copy with me?

The Mayor: No, I have not yet received a copy of the NPCC Aviation Review.

Young people in the criminal justice system

Shaun Bailey: At the end of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, how many young people entered the criminal justice system for the first time?

The Mayor: The number of youth (aged 10-17) first time entrants to the youth justice system at the end of the following years was:
2015 – 20,781, 2016 - 18,564, 2017 – 16,751, 2018 – 14,617, 2019 – 11,928.
Full details of this can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-justice-statistics-2018-to-2019

Bleed control kits

Shaun Bailey: Following question 2019/21058, when do you expect to hear back from the MPS Health and Safety Clinical Review panel on their consideration of bleed control kits?

The Mayor: Specialist officers are equipped and trained to use this type of equipment. The MPS First Aid Clinical Review Panel, a panel of volunteer trauma experts, has not recommended that police issue the kits more widely at this stage to its officers.
The Panel regularly reviews all of the trauma cases alongside LAS colleagues. It is otherwise supportive of campaigns which support events and premises equipping and training their own employees in accordance with their individual operating environments.

Met cases dropped due to time limit expiration

Susan Hall: For each of the years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, how many police suspects have had proceedings against them dropped, because the period set in law to bring proceedings to expire has passed? Please breakdown by minor crime type.

The Mayor: The MPS informs me that there is no longer any code contained in either the Crime recording System (CRIS) or the Custody System to indicate where a crime is not proceeded with as being passed the statutory time limit for such a prosecution to take place.Such offences are where they are summary only offences and can only be heard at Magistrates Court
It would therefore not be possible to state whether the proceedings against a suspect was dropped – or not begun due to a lack of evidence as opposed to a lack of timeliness.

Special Constables

Tony Devenish: In relation to MQ 2020/0122, what recent polices have been implemented by the Internal Strategic Review Board to support, encourage and effectively utilise Special Constables?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) continues to explore and enact a range of measures to encourage and support Special Constables. Examples include:
Increasing the number of role opportunities available to Special Constables, for example in areas such as Counter Terrorism, Violent Crime Task Force and Public Order.
Supporting Special Constables through full time Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) coordinators who assist with coordinating training, duties and providing feedback on issues as and when they arrive.
The system for claiming expenses has also been recently overhauled to enable a quicker and smoother process, ensuring hardworking volunteers are reimbursed as soon as possible.

Facial Recognition 1

Susan Hall: Since the approval of Facial Recognition for the Met, please of provide the following breakdowns for those who have been uploaded to the system:
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Gender
Further to this, for those who are currently wanted by the Met, please provide the following breakdowns:
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Gender

The Mayor: As set out in the Live Facial Recognition Guidance document (https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/force-content/met/advice/lfr/mpf-lfr-guidance-document-v1-0.pdf- para 10.9) the MPS does not create or retain a breakdown of race, gender or any other protected characteristic of people on a Watchlist. This mirrors the approach taken with the majority of policing tools used by the MPS.
The breakdown for wanted people across the MPS can be found below:
Age Group
%
Under 18
1.36%
18 - 25
13.98%
26 - 50
72.54%
51 - 80
11.89%
81+
0.23%
Unknown
0.01%
Total
100.00%
Gender
%
Female
11.91%
Male
84.03%
Not Stated
4.05%
Total
100.00%
Ethnicity
%
IC1-White North European
43.39%
IC2-White South European
15.19%
IC3-Black
21.09%
IC4-Asian
10.10%
IC5-Chinese/ Japanese or other South East Asian
1.64%
IC6-Arabic or North African
2.55%
IC9-Unknown
4.38%
Middle Eastern
1.64%
Not Available
0.01%
Other Mixed Race Background
0.01%
Total
100.00%

Unexplained wealth orders

Unmesh Desai: How many unexplained wealth orders were obtained in London in 2018 and 2019?

The Mayor: There have been 15 Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) obtained in London between 2018 and 2019. These have been obtained by the National Crime Agency. The Metropolitan Police Service is currently working with the National Economic Crime Centre to see if UWOs can be used on a wider range of cases.

Appropriate adult funding [2]

Andrew Dismore: Please advise how much has been spent, by BCU and by Borough, on appropriate adult provision in each of the 12 BCU’s since April 2019.

The Mayor: The provision of safe and effective police custody arrangements is vital to the work of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and to the public's trust and confidence in the Service. The Met takes this responsibility seriously and if there is a need for an appropriate adult and there is either no available service or there might be an inordinate delay, then the MPS may incur costs to ensure the justice process can proceed in a fair and timely manner.
The MPS, my Office for Policing and Crime and local authority partners have worked in partnership to develop a shared approach to the provision of Appropriate Adult (AA) services, which aims to deliver a more universal service across London.
The table below reflects appropriate adult costings for the MPS.
Boroughs
Basic Command Unit
Total
Tower Hamlets, Hackney
Central East
22440
Lambeth, Southwark
Central South
32623
Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham
Central West
137414
Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge
East
22325
Enfield, Haringey
North
7936
Camden, Islington
Central North
22909
Waltham Forest, Newham
North East
108004
Harrow, Brent, Barnet
North West
125423
Bromley, Sutton, Croydon
South
21373
Lewisham, Bexley, Greenwich
South East
6802
Richmond, Wandsworth, Merton
South West
33171
Hounslow, Ealing, Hillingdon
West
28416
GRAND TOTAL
568836
NB: These figures do not necessarily reflect overall levels of demand. Enfield and Haringey have moved to a new partnership agreement and the full year costs be £59,825

Sexual Relationships in Undercover Investigations (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Has the Met changed its practices regarding undercover operations and sexual relationships and can you assure Londoners that there are no current undercover operations that include sexual relationships?

The Mayor: Please see my answer to Mayor's Question 2020/0987.

Facial Recognition Database (2)

Peter Whittle: Has the Metropolitan Police provided facial recognition data to the Prüm network and if so, how much and for what purposes?

The Mayor: The MPS has informed me that no facial recognition data has been provided.

County lines

Shaun Bailey: According to your 40th Mayor's report, you are 'increasing investment in programmes to tackle "county lines" and to disrupt the drugs market in the capital.' What are these programmes, how are you going to ensure that that they make a difference, and how will you judge success?

The Mayor: This work to tackle county lines and to disrupt the drugs market is part of a package of measures to tackle the complex causes of violent crime outlined in my recent Budget and backed by £55.5 million of investment.
The work on county lines and related drugs markets will involve close working with partners and build upon the success we have seen in the innovative Rescue and Responseprogramme, commissioned by City Hall.This work will be underpinned by a rigorous project monitoring and evaluation process.

Young people as victims of crime

Shaun Bailey: What efforts have been taken and what programmes have been implemented to reduce the chance of a young person becoming a victim of crime? What have been the outcomes of these efforts and programmes?

The Mayor: My plan to tackle violent crime in London means being both tough on crime, and tough on the underlying causes of crime.
The causes of violent crime arecomplex,buthave been made far worse by huge Government cuts to the police, schools, youth services and councils. As a result, through my £45m Young Londoners Fund I have invested in projects to provide positive activities and safe spaces for young people, including those that are at risk of becoming victims and perpetrators of crime. More than 110,000 young Londoners are already benefitting. In my recent Budget I provided a further £25m of funding to support this work, bringing the total funding to £70m.
I have doubled the investment in London’s Children & Young People’s Victim Service, extending support to include young witnesses of serious violence and domestic abuse and increased funding to hospital-based youth support services for victims of crime.
But many offenders have also been victims of crime themselves, so it is important to address the causes of their offending early; that is why I fund London Gang Exit (LGE) which supports young Londoners to exit gangs and Rescue and Response service to help young people exploited by county lines activity.
I also set up the Violence Reduction Unit, which is driving forward a public health approach tackling violence. In December, I announced an additional £3.2m in London’s Violence Reduction Unit this year and in future years. In my 2019-20 budget, I invested £1.8m per year in the VRU, starting this financial year, together with an additional one-off £5m in new funds allocated from business rates. I am increasing ongoing annual investment to £5m for the next financial year. As my Budget announcement in February made clear, I am directing £55.5m of new funding into tackling the complex underlying causes of violent crime, which brings the total additional amount invested in tackling violent crime in this year’s budget to £100.6m.

Safer schools officers

Shaun Bailey: What formula/methodology is used to designate a safer schools officer and how many schools in London have safer schools officer?

The Mayor: All schools and pupil referral units in London are offered a designated Safer Schools Officer by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
Around 630 schools have a designated officer. Officers may be assigned to a single school or provide support to several.
The deployment of these officers is an operational decision for the local Basic Command Unit (BCU) Commander and will depend on a variety of factors such as engagement with schools and youth services, local intelligence, crime mapping and identification of preventative and safeguarding requirements.

Free burglar alarm

Len Duvall: How many households in London contain a resident over the age of 65? And therefore, how much would it cost over four years to give each household a free burglar alarm, including the cost of each alarm, installation and service after one year?

The Mayor: Based on the Annual Population Survey data from 2018, the estimated London households with a resident over the age of 65 is 23 per cent(791,672).
As the prices of alarm models and associated costs of instillation and servicing are so varied, it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate on the cost of installing a free burglar alarm for each of these households.

Appropriate adult funding [1]

Andrew Dismore: Please advise which local authorities are the ‘lead commissioners’ of appropriate adult provision in each of the 12 BCU’s?

The Mayor: In respect of the MOPAC/NHS/Local Authority Appropriate Adult Scheme for London:

Knife crime strategy (2)

Shaun Bailey: The knife crime strategy notes that "we will take a trauma-informed and culturally competent approach". What actions have been taken to reflect this in practice?

The Mayor: Trauma-informed approaches delivered by culturally competent workers already form the basis of all City Hall commissioned work to support victims of youth violence and exploitation. Services, such as the youth workers embedded in A&Es and those supporting children exploited by county lines through Rescue and Response, acknowledge that failing to recognise and treat underlying factors may prevent a young person escaping the cycle of trauma which can lead to violence.
I recognise the power of youth workers to reach young people who are not accessible in the same way by schools, social services and the criminal justice system. This is whythrough our commissioning, providers must demonstrate that their staff have the right experience and skills to engage with complex young people, and ongoing training and supervision is provided. It is also important that we support other organisations to develop good practice in this area, which is why my Young Londoners Fund programme provides training on trauma-informed practice to youth organisations.
Over the same period, wider activity across the MPS targeting violence has seen 68,003 weapon sweeps carried out, 5,036 knives recovered along with 2,458 offensive weapons.

Gangs Matrix

Susan Hall: Since 21st December 2018 how many individuals who were removed from the Gangs Matrix have gone onto be charged with a crime broken down by minor crime type? If this is too much data to extract, please just provide the figures for Violence Against the Person, Knife Crime, and Homicide. Also please note, this only refers to those removed from the Matrix after 21st December 2018.

The Mayor: The MPS has clear criteria based on offending and intelligence for inclusion and retention of individuals on the Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM). To ensure transparency these criteria are published on the MPS external website. Every quarter the MPS reviews all individuals on the GVM against these criteria and removes or retains individuals on this basis. Each quarter new data on the GVM population is published on the same website. This process is overseen by an operationally independent review and compliance team and the wider GVM remains subject to regular oversight and scrutiny by my Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime.
Since 21 December 2018 a total of 994 subjects have been removed from the Gangs Violence Matrix.The MPS informs me that it is not able to give a full breakdown of their subsequent offending history by crime-type.

Bail and RUI

Susan Hall: Please provide the following for each of the years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019:
• The number of homicides excluding domestic abuse
• The number of these homicides where a suspect was charged
• The number of those charged who were on already bail or released under investigation when the alleged offence was committed (Please provide separate figures for bail and RUI)

The Mayor: Non-DA Homicides Charges assigned to the CRIS record
2016: 93248
2017:  127 340
2018:  106 408
2019:  134 325
The data on bail / RUI cannot be retrieved from MPS systems in the time available.Each of the people identified in the data as being charged would have to be individually researched to see if they were on bail or RUI at the time if the homicide being committed.

Facial Recognition Database (1)

Peter Whittle: How many images are in the Metropolitan Police Facial Recognition Database and for what purpose is this data being held?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service do not have a Facial Recognition Database. A bespoke watchlist of wanted individuals is created for each deployment in line with the MPS operating principles which can be found here:https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/facial-recognition/live-facial-recognition/.
Information on each deployment is published here:
https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/met/facial-recognition/latest-past-deployment-data.pdf

London Chamber of Commerce & Industry manifesto,

Tony Devenish: Following the recommendations within the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) manifesto, how will you collaborate with boroughs to achieve swifter roll-out of the 5G network?

The Mayor: In my manifesto, I pledged to improve connectivity in London. In 2017, I appointed London’s first Chief Digital Officer and set up the Connected London team within the GLA to work with the boroughs to share best practice and guidance for collaborating with connectivity providers and mobile operators. This has included launching a new standard agreement to help commercial landlords and public property owners address poor areas of mobile phone coverage.
I am committed to ensuring that London has the resources it needs digital connectivity and have recently provided £1m in funding for sub-regional borough partners to recruit into roles supporting the roll out of full fibre and 5G.
I have met with some of the digital providers and heard first-hand about their plans to continue roll out across London as technology develops. My team will continue to support providers and operators to roll out future facing infrastructure.I am pleased to see that all four mobile operators have launched 5G services in London and welcome further investment in our city to bring our residents and businesses the connectivity they deserve.

Major incidents

Tony Devenish: Following on from the number of major incidents of a national magnitude the Met Police has dealt with during this Mayoral term, have you personally taken the time to investigate along with your Deputy Mayor the complex needs of the Police Family Liaison Officers and wrap around co-ordinated bereavement services across our public services?

The Mayor: The Commissioner, the Deputy Mayor and I take the wellbeing of London’s police officers incredibly seriouslyOfficers across the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), including Police Family Liaison Officers face a range of challenging circumstances, which can require specialist support.As a result, the MPS offers extensive support to officers that have had to deal with traumatic experiences, this includes:
In terms of the broader coordination of bereavement services, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the national Homicide Service which provides support for families bereaved by murder and manslaughter. MOPAC has worked with partners to implement the Ministry of Justice’s Major Crime Incidents Framework which ensures the close coordinated between local victims support services (in the form of London Victims Witness Service in London) and the nationally commissioned Homicide Service. These working arrangements have worked very effectively in coordinating support for those affected by the recent terrorist incidents at London Bridge and Streatham.

Metropolitan Police Service Traffic Law Enforcement Annual Report (3)

Siân Berry: Thank you for your response to my question 2017/2215. The most recently published Metropolitan Police Service/Transport for London Traffic Law Enforcement Annual Report is for 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018. When will reports for the following two years be published?

The Mayor: The London Traffic Annual Report is a collaborative report using operational data sourced from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Transport for London (TfL) are responsible for the final publication, following a robust approval process involving senior decision makers from both TfL and the MPS.
I can confirm that TfL have confirmed that the 2018/19 report is currently in draft format and following the approval process is due to be published in Spring 2020. The plan is for the 2019/20 report to be published late 2020.

Facial Recognition 2

Susan Hall: Since the approval of Facial Recognition for the Met, please provide the minor crime types for which those who have been uploaded to the system are wanted for.

The Mayor: To date, the watchlists have focused on violent and other serious crime types. The following examples are illustrative of factors that will currently inform an authorising officer’s judgment as to what constitutes serious crime for the purposes of an LFR deployment.
It should be stressed that the above factors are not prescriptive but illustrative given that all LFR deployments are intelligence-led and reflect current MPS policing priorities. It is therefore for the authorising officer to be satisfied that targeting people wanted for any particular crime type is lawful, necessary and proportionate in the circumstances.

Facial Recognition 3

Susan Hall: Is the Met considering an expansion to Facial Recognition, if so what? E.g. integration with CCTV?

The Mayor: Facial recognition is conducted on a stand-alone technology, not linked to any other system.Any expansion beyond this is not currently envisaged.

Police stations

Len Duvall: What would be the impact to the Metropolitan Police Service, particularly on police officer numbers, if you were to re-open 38 police stations in London?

The Mayor: The commitment in the Public Access Strategy is for one front counter open 24 hours, seven days a week in each Borough and this remains. We know that many of the front counters which were closed in 2017 had very low footfall, with some receiving just a handful of visits every day.
The MPS are currently reviewing their estate in light of the increase in officers promised by the Government. An ongoing lack of clarity makes it challenging to complete this assessment.
Retaining front counters in buildings which are otherwise not required for wider policing purposes would have a significant impact on both revenue savings (which the Public Access Strategy identified as £8 million, the equivalent of over 140 police officers based on the disposals list at the time) and capital receipts needed for essential investment in technology, estates and equipment.
Keeping front counters open would also increase the capital costs to the MPS as many are in a poor state of repair and would need modernisation.
Our access strategy is reflecting the significant uptake in online crime reporting which shows we are responding to the public’s changing demands in how they access police services.

Domain Awareness System

Len Duvall: How much would implementing the NYPD style database, Domain Awareness System, in London cost?

The Mayor: The NYPD Domain Awareness System is reported to have cost between $230 and $350 million in its initial phase, supported by an investment of $160 million in handheld and in-car devices.
No estimate has been made about the cost of implementing the system in London, but some of the features of the system are already part of the MPS’ technology investment programme, including making better use of CCTV, giving officers access to mobile devices and live intelligence, improvements to the command and control system and better use of data analytics.
It is important to note that the Government’s capital grant to the MPS has been cut by £9 million to just £3 million. This is around 1.1 per cent of the top-end estimate of the cost to New York of implementing the Domain Awareness System.

Money laundering arrests

Unmesh Desai: How many people were arrested in London for money laundering offences in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019?

The Mayor: Pleasesee attachedthe requested data for the period specified.

Utility expenditure for MOPAC

Siân Berry: The budgeted utility expenditure for MOPAC and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in 2020-2021 is £19.4 million. Can you provide a breakdown of what this £19.4 million is budgeted to be spent on, including how much will be spent on data infrastructure, e.g. running data servers?

The Mayor: The MPS budget requirement for utilities in the 20/21 financial year is broken down as follows:
The electricity utilisation specifically for running data infrastructure/servers cannot be broken out from this figure.

A Shared Endeavour’ report recommendations

Unmesh Desai: Can the Mayor provide a progress report on the responses to the recommendations addressed to City Hall set out in the ‘A Shared Endeavour’ report on his Countering Violent Extremism programme?

The Mayor: After an unprecedented spate of perpetrated and foiled terrorist activity in 2017 I tasked my Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Programme with identifying new, improved and renewed opportunities to counter extremism in the capital. After the delivery of the most comprehensive city-wide engagement and review exercise in this policy area ever the report made recommendations to external specified authorities but also City Hall.
In light of this report I was determined to lead from the front in tackling extremism and committed new investment totalling more than £1 million to deliver a new London CVE Programme.
Many of these City Hall recommendations have been completed and others are in train. Some highlights have included the launch of a new civil society grant fund to deliver work which stands up to hate, intolerance and extremism and which my investment was match funded by Google.org; the delivery of a number of thematic pan-London events which have provided safety and security advice seminars to places of worship and the transformation of City Hall into a hub of good practice sharing and peer to peer learning through a right-wing extremism and youth counter radicalisation conference.

Devolution on crime matters?

Joanne McCartney: What further areas of crime prevention and victims’ services do you want to see devolved to London government?

The Mayor: My five key asks of the Secretary of State in relation to justice devolution were to allow regional commissioning of the Homicide Service through devolved funding, pilot a devolved approach to the National Probation Service’s Victim Contact Scheme, explore a shadow budget to fund sustainable female offender services, pool funding to enable the co-commissioning of rehabilitation services, and to pilot services to improve the transition from youth justice to the adult criminal justice system.
These are the key elements which I believe constitute a meaningful package of devolution to London. Unfortunately, these ambitions have not been realised as all these asks have been refused by the Secretary of State, which I believe is to the detriment of London’s most vulnerable victims and offenders.

Unconscious Bias

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide details on how often Metropolitan Police officers undertake unconscious bias training and what the training involves?

The Mayor: Unconscious bias training is delivered to police officers at various stages of their career.
For front line officers this includes their initial police recruit training and their mandatory professional development. There is additional input for those attending specialist training – such as all new detectives and those joining Community Safety Units.
Training is a combination of face to face and online learning.

Protecting Londoners from ‘thought crime’ policing (1)

David Kurten: On the 14 February 2020, the High Court ruled that the Humberside Police decision to record a non-crime hate incident against Harry Miller for alleged transphobic tweets was unlawful. The Judge, Mr Justice Julian Knowles concluded that Mr Miller’s tweets were: “lawful and that there was not the slightest risk that he would commit a criminal offence by continuing to tweet”. He described the police actions as: “disproportionate interference with the Claimant’s [Mr Miller’s] right to freedom of expression because of their potential chilling effect”. 4
Similar to the nature of Mr Miller’s tweets, how many Londoners have ‘transgender’ and/or ‘transphobic’ non-crime hate incidents recorded against them by the Metropolitan Police Service and made in the context of the ongoing debate on the reform of the Gender Recognition Act, which the Government consulted in 2018, to allow people to self-identify as the opposite sex? Can you break the number down by year to date, since 2018?

4 High Court press summary, 14 February 2020 https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/miller-v-college-of-police-summary.pdf

The Mayor: MPS systems do not make it possible to identify which transphobic non-crime hate incidents relate to the consultation on the Gender Recognition Act.
Recording of non-crime hate incidents is both lawful and extremely important in protecting people. On February 14th, Mr Justice Knowles ruled that the recording a non-crime hate incident does not interfere on an individual’s rights. The Honourable Mr Justice Knowles said ‘the recording of non-crime hate incidents barely encroaches on freedom of expression, if it does so at all.”

Police use of live facial recognition (6)

Siân Berry: Following the deployment of live facial recognition (LFR) technology at Stratford and Oxford Circus during February 2020 by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), can you provide me with the following data from each of the deployments: a) how many people were scanned by the LFR, b) how many people were on each watchlist, c) how many individual identifications were made by the LFR system, and d) how many individual identifications were correct compared with how many were false?

The Mayor: The MPS has committed to publishing information about each deployment. The deployment data for the first 3 deployments can be found here:https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/met/facial-recognition/latest-past-deployment-data.pdf

Economic Crime Victim Care Unit

Shaun Bailey: How many victims of crime is the Economic Crime Victim Care Unit currently supporting?

The Mayor: In January 2020, the Economic Crime Victim Care Unit supported 496 London victims over the phone and provided an additional 584 victims with fraud prevention advice by email.From April 2019 to January 2020, the service provided support to 4,378 London victims over the phone and provided an additional 5,694 victims with fraud prevention advice either by post or email.
Please contact the City of London Police for information on the victims the Economic Crime Victim Care Unit has supported outside of London.

ATM crime

Shaun Bailey: Please provide a breakdown of ATM cash point muggings in London over the past five years (year-by-year).

The Mayor: Please seeattached therequested data for the period specified.

Borough funded police

Tony Devenish: Please can you provide the current number of borough funded police officers, broken down by borough?

The Mayor: The table below shows the number of officers by borough on the older Met Patrol Plus (MPP) and newer Partnership Plus Scheme (PPS) as of March 2020. This includes all officers, those funded by the local authority and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) as part of the agreements.
Note that some local authorities have multiple contracts and so feature twice on the table. Alsothe table does not show contracts in negotiation, which amount to a further potential 20.7 officers.
Barking and Dagenham
PPS
9.0
Bexley
PPS
1.0
Brent
MPP
12.0
Camden
MPP
13.0
Croydon
PPS
2.0
Ealing
PPS
5.0
Enfield
PPS
16.0
Greenwich
PPS
2.0
Greenwich
PPS
2.0
Havering
PPS
5.0
Hillingdon
MPP
15.0
Hounslow
PPS
4.0
Hounslow - Community Safety
MPP
10.0
Islington
MPP
4.0
Islington - Angel Business Improvement District (BID)
MPP
7.0
Kensington & Chelsea
PPS
2.0
Lambeth
PPS
6.0
Lambeth
PPS
5.0
Newham
MPP
34.0
Southwark
PPS
7.0
Sutton
PPS
4.0
Tower Hamlets
MPP
24.0
Tower Hamlets
MPP
14.0
Westminster
MPP
1.0
204.0

Legal basis of police use of live facial recognition

Siân Berry: During operation deployment of live facial recognition (LFR) technology by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the MPS has told a constituent: “each deployment will have its own legitimate purpose, legal basis.” What was the legal basis for each of the LFR deployments during February 2020 at Stratford and Oxford Circus?

The Mayor: The legal basis for the deployment od Live Facial Recognition has been published by the MPS and can be foundhere:https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/force-content/met/advice/lfr/mps-lfr-legal-mandate-v1-1.pdf
In relation to the Stratford and Oxford Circus deployments, these were announced as having a focus on violent and other serious crime. The prevention and detection of crime is a police common law power. Article 8, recognises action in the interests of national security, public safety and the prevention of disorder or crime as legitimate aims.

Restoring the Roads and Transport Policing Command (2)

Siân Berry: Thank you for your response to my question 2020/0072. I understand that there is presently a six per cent vacancy rate in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC), which is an effective 11 per cent vacancy rate, taking into account officers redeployed into the violent crime taskforce. When will the effective vacancy rate reduce, and by how much with the recruitment of new members into this unit and the MPS?

The Mayor: Resourcing levels in the MPS Roads and Transport Policing Command are kept under close reviewby the MPS and TfL to ensure that there is a sufficient level of resource to deliver on the Mayor’s Vision Zero commitments and other transport policing priorities.
While the abstraction of officers from the RTPC to the Violent crime Task Force was a necessary step to stop the upward trend in serious violence, it was not done at the expense of keeping Londoners safe from harm on the road and transport network. TfL and the MPS worked together to mitigate the impact of vacancies on RTPC service delivery. An overtime provision was made available so that RTPC and TFL could flex resources to deal with priorities.
The permanent recruitment of officers to the VCTF means that up to 30 abstracted officers are returning to the RTPC in April. Further vacancies will be filled as part of the MPS’ ongoing recruitment, balancing priorities across the MPS.

Undercover Investigations

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide details of the processes currently in place for deploying officers in the Met into undercover operations?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) processes for deploying officers into undercover operations are governed by extensive legislation and guided by the College of Policing (CoP) Authorised Professional Practice on undercover policing.

Sexual Relationships in Undercover Investigations (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide an update on any disciplinary action that has been taken against Met police officers who previously engaged in, or sanctioned, undercover operations that included sexual relationships?

The Mayor: One officer has been subject to a disciplinary hearing as a result of a relationship undertaken while that officer was deployed in an undercover role. The officer was dismissed following a finding of gross misconduct in May 2018.

Digital Forensic Services in the Met (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: In the Met’s 2018-2025 Strategy it states, “Digital investigation and forensic awareness will be at the heart of training in the Met.” Please provide detailed information on how this priority is being implemented.

The Mayor: Digital Investigation and Forensic awareness is delivered to all new officers within their Foundation training now and we are currently discussing the support that can be provided for the Policing Education Qualification Framework (Police Apprenticeship) curriculum, creation and delivery to enhance and embed this learning in all the new recruit pathways that are being launched in autumn 2020.
Forensic Services directly support the learning and development of police officers on the subject of forensic awareness, and are using new blended learning approaches, for example:
The Investigation of crimes involving digital forensics are also supported by Forensic Services, who provide;

Digital Forensic Services in the Met (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide a detailed explanation of the commissioning process for digital forensic services in the Met.

The Mayor: The MPS has a contract with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) for digital forensic services which was awarded following a competitive negotiated procedure in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
The contract includes three main service lines.
The selection of subcontractors considers technical capability including accreditation (where this is in place), price and availability. The MSP has rights to reject subcontractors where for reasonable reasons they are deemed unsuitable.
In addition, the MSP provides cell site survey services and research and development services. To deliver the cell site service, a small team of cell site experts are co-located with the MPS to provide cell site surveys and analysis work. For R&D work, relationships are determined on a project by project basis to connect with wider industry.

Forensic Science Regulator Report, Digital Forensics

Caroline Pidgeon: Can you confirm that the organisations the Met uses for digital forensic services are all compliant with digital forensic standards?

The Mayor: All the suppliers used by the MPS under the Mass managed service contract are either compliant with ISO17025 (for some or all of the work that they undertake on its behalf) or are working towards ISO17025 accreditation for those areas.This reflects the status of the Met’s internal digital forensic laboratories and the status of the commercial digital forensic marketplace as a whole.All suppliers (and Mass itself) work to internal Quality Management Systems (QMS) that interact with the MPS’s QMS to manage quality, errors, risks and complaints.
The status of accreditation for each supplier is monitored by Mass and is reported at monthly MPS/Mass board meetings.
Until the market has sufficient capacity to provide all Digital Forensic activities within ISO17025 accreditation, the MPS will continue to manage the risk of work being undertaken outside the scope of accreditation through this quality management process.
A declaration is included in statements to the CJS which articulates compliance/ or not with ISO17025.

Forensic Science Regulator Report

Caroline Pidgeon: The Forensic Science Regulator’s report of 25 February stated that, nationally, over 1,100 DNA profiles on the National DNA Database have been contaminated by police officers and staff and are having to be removed. How are you working with the Met to ensure that contamination of evidence in the Met is minimised?

The Mayor: I am aware that recent advances in DNA technology have resulted in an increase of sensitivity. Considering this, the Metropolitan Police Service has reviewed all procedures, in particular the anti-contamination procedures to comply with best practice.It is accepted that even with the use of best practice anti-contamination procedures DNA contamination cannot be entirely eliminated.
DNA elimination profiles for MPS police staff and officers that come into direct contact with forensic exhibits are loaded onto relevant elimination databases.All DNA profiles generated from MPS crime scene exhibits will be compared against these profiles to identify contamination.All instances of contamination are investigated and inform continual organisational learning.
Forensic staff who attend crime scenes are responsible for retrieving exhibits for forensic analysis and follow robust procedures based on FSR-G-206 - ‘The Control and Avoidance of Contamination In Crime Scene Examination involving Evidence Recovery’.
Once forensic exhibits are retrieved, they are sealed in ‘tamper-evident’ bags which are not permitted to be opened outside of an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory.This is to minimise any further risk of contamination from individuals or the environment.
Organisational learning from Forensic Services is also inputted into the training delivered by Learning and Development to police officers.

Sexual Offences Trained Officers

Caroline Pidgeon: How many sexual offences trained officers will be recruited as part of the planned officer uplift? And, how many of these will be placed in the Child Abuse and Sexual Offence command?

The Mayor: The specific deployment of police officers is an operational decision for the Commissioner and she has my full confidence that she will deploy officers to where they are needed most.
The full implications of the Government’s uplift in officers has not yet been determined. So far only 1,369 officers have been promised to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) – far short of the 6,000 London needs.
Workforce planning for all MPS departments will ultimately depend on the final uplift provided by the Government.

Stop and Search Scrutiny

Caroline Pidgeon: You mention in your answer to question no: 2019/20178 that you “regularly scrutinise stop and search performance with the Commissioner to ensure officers conduct ethical and proportionate searches.” Please provide more detail on how you undertake this monitoring with the Commissioner? What concerns have you raised?

The Mayor: Stop and search is a vitally important issue, one that cuts across public safety and civil liberties, and it is absolutely right that it remains under scrutiny. Both I and my Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime have regular discussions with the Commissioner about stop and search in relation to disproportionality, the use of section 60 powers, body worn video and complaints. These matters are also reviewed at the quarterly Oversight Board meetings.
These discussions are informed by monthly stop and search data collated by MOPAC’s Evidence and Insight Team and by matters escalated through the Community Monitoring Network (CMN).
A specific example would be Community Monitoring Groups’ (CMGs) access to Body Worn Video (BWV). As a result of these discussions, the MPS has convened a working group, which includes three elected CMG chairs, and is proactively working to resolve the issue.

Protecting Londoners from ‘thought crime’ policing (4)

David Kurten: How many times have the Metropolitan Police disclosed details of non-crime hate incidents on DBS criminal record checks?

The Mayor: The MPS does not routinely disclose non-crime hate incidents on DBS record checks. In exceptional circumstances disclosures can be made but it would have to satisfy national relevancy and proportionality criteria.
The MPS are unable to extract that information in the time available to answer this question.

MPS property portfolio

Tony Devenish: What progress has been made to ensure that the Metropolitan Police Service's property portfolio is fit for purpose, and how will you measure this?

The Mayor: The Met are carrying out further work to assess the use of the property portfolioin light ofthe increase in police officers. Subject to their governance and clearance by their Management Board in March the Met will then make proposals to MOPAC for sites which may become available for disposal. When proposals come forward we willscrutinisethem carefully
The refurbishment of buildings within the estate needs to continue and is time critical to ensure there issufficientcapacity within the estate to meet the initial uplift in officer numbers and reduce the reliance on retaining additional properties. A business case for a significant investmentprogrammein BCU buildings has recently been approved.
Work includesopening upbuildings to make them open plan, allowing more officers to work in them in a more joined-up way. The Met are also doing some essential remedial works to make older buildings fit for purpose and ensure they are compliant with the Met’s obligations under the Equality Act.

Protecting Londoners from ‘thought crime’ policing (2)

David Kurten: On the 14 February 2020, the High Court ruled that the Humberside Police decision to record a non-crime hate incident against Harry Miller for alleged transphobic tweets was unlawful. In the judgment, Mr Justice Julian Knowles stated: “The effect of the police turning up at the claimant’s [Mr Miller’s] place of work because of his political opinions must not be underestimated. To do so would be to undervalue a cardinal democratic freedom. In this country we have never had a Cheka, a Gestapo or a Stasi. We have never lived in an Orwellian society.” 5
What is the Metropolitan Police’s and/or the Met’s Online Hate Crime Hub doing to review the implications of this judgement on its non-crime hate incident decisions and the Judge, Mr Justice Julian Knowles’ broader comments on this approach to policing?

5 High Court press summary, 14 February 2020 https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/miller-v-college-of-police-summary.pdf

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police and Online Hate Crime Hub review practices on an ongoing basis and follow the College of Policing National Guidance. This work will be informed by relevant judgements of the courts.

Gang flagged crime

Unmesh Desai: Why have the number of gang flagged crimes been decreasing since 2016?

The Mayor: There has been a reduction of approximately 50 per centin gang flagged crime reports since Calendar Year 2016 (to Calendar Year 2019). Whilst gang flags reduced across all crimes, gang flagged crimes continue to account for a significant proportion of serious violence.
As part of the MOPAC review of the Gangs Violence Matrix this reduction was considered, with some possible reasons cited as the effectiveness of MPS focus on policing London gangs, and the violence threat moving into other areas (e.g Organised Crime or county lines activity).

Live Facial recognition monitoring groups

Unmesh Desai: Will community monitoring groups, such as those who review the MPS’s use of stop and search, be able to review the Met’s use of Live Facial Recognition technology?

The Mayor: Independent Advisory Groups have been engaged and continue to be so and a Community impact Assessment is completed for each deployment. Deployment figures are published online (https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/met/facial-recognition/latest-past-deployment-data.pdf) to allow public scrutiny. Sections 7 and 8 of the Guidance Document refer to the Governance and Oversight arrangements (https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/force-content/met/advice/lfr/mpf-lfr-guidance-document-v1-0.pdf

Protected principals

Unmesh Desai: Does the Royalty and Specialist Command unit continue to provide support for protected principals if they leave their duties as part of the Royal Family?

The Mayor: The MPS do not comment upon matters of personal protective security and their associated costs. The MPS has informed me that disclosure of such information could compromise the integrity of these arrangements and affect the security of the individuals concerned.

Officer retirement

Unmesh Desai: How many Met Police officers retired from the MPS in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019? Please also provide how many new police officers (not joining from other forces) were sworn in and provided with their warrant cards in each of these years.

The Mayor: The table below shows the numbers of officers who have retired and the number of new recruits (excluding transfers).
Note this does not include medical ill health retirements.
Year
Retirement (FTE)
Recruitment (FTE)
2016
1016
1204
2017
1083
1172
2018
1026
1548
2019
995
3183

Organised crime flytipping

Tony Devenish: Have you read the Spectator article by Alasdair Palmer "What is organised crime doing disposing of rubbish"? Please investigate with London Councils and the Met if the allegations in this article are accurate. If so what is being done to stop such large scale dumping by organised crime?

The Mayor: The Met have been working with the Environment Agency to target waste carrying vehicles. Operation Angola is an Environment Agency repose to organised fly tipping which would ordinarily be flagged to them by the local authority. Police assist the Environmental Agency staff with vehicle stops and preventing breach of the peace whilst the EA then exercise their powers to deal with identified offences of illegal waste dumping and waste transportation.

Business crime

Tony Devenish: Westminster has been identified as the most dangerous place to own a business, and Kensington and Chelsea as the third, what are you going to do about this?

The Mayor: The Deputy Mayor for Policing & Crime and I have met with a range of businesses and listened to their concerns regarding crime. I know that addressing this is one of their main priorities and that’s why I have provided £251.3 million of additional investment to tackle violence. Part of this money has helped to pay for the Violent Crime Task Force who have been running several successful operations in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea. My Deputy Mayor convened a meeting of retailers last April. As part of my Police and Crime Plan, I have championed the role of Business Crime Reduction Partnerships and have been working with colleagues in central London to extend the reach and remit of these groups.

CPS criticisms

Tony Devenish: Do you agree with lawyers who have criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for pursuing the tv personality Caroline Flack, allegedly ignoring the CPS's own mental health guidance? How can you exert pressure to ensure this does not happen again?

The Mayor: My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Caroline Flack – this is a truly tragic incident.
It is right that the CPS are able to make decisions on cases independent of political pressure. I understand that a post-case review is being undertaken by the CPS, and it is vital that they learn any lessons from this case. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on allegations about which I have had no evidence.

Low Priority Crimes

Tony Devenish: What priorities have you set the Police and which crimes have you told them are low priority?

The Mayor: No crimes are ‘low priority’, but with scare resources the MPS prioritises those issues which most affect Londoners.
Each Borough has a set of priorities:
Locally set priorities are refreshed on an annual basis and performance is published here:https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/data-and-statistics/mopac-performance-framework

Police living in London

Tony Devenish: What percentage of serving police constables and sergeants live in Greater London?

The Mayor: For confirmationGreater London contains all London Boroughs, but excludes City Of London.
For serving PC/DCs, 49% live in the Greater London area.
For serving PS/DSs, 33% live in the Greater London area.

BCU commanders

Tony Devenish: Please provide a table of all BCU commanders and how many different individuals have been in each post since May 2016.

The Mayor: The table below shows the appointment of the first Commander in each BCU and any changes that have subsequently taken place up to March 2020.
Ordinarily the expectation is that BCU Commander postings are for a period of 2-years, though this is not always possible given individual circumstances and operational needs.
Note BCU commanders were typically appointed several months before the formal BCU launch date. This was to allow the leadership to become established and was a key point of learning from the original BCU pathfinders.
Boroughs
BCU
BCU Launch date
BCU Commander/s
Camden
Islington
Central North Command Unit
Jan 17
Catherine Roper, Jan 17 – January 18
[Catherine was previously Islington Borough Commander, a post she held since March 2015]
Nick Davies (interim)
Iain Raphael, April 18 – December 18
Raj Kohli, December 18 – present
Havering
Redbridge
Barking and Dagenham
East Area Command Unit
Jan 17
Jason Gwillim, Jan 17 – May 2019
[Jason was previously Havering Borough Commander, a post he held from Jan 2013]
Steve Clayman, May 2019 – present
Richmond
Kingston
Merton
Wandsworth
South West Command Unit
June 18
Sally Benatar
[Sally was previously Kingston Borough Commander, from Nov 17]
Ealing
Hillingdon
Hounslow
West Area Command Unit
June 18
Paul Martin, June 18 – Nov 19
[Paul was previously Ealing Borough Commander, a post he held from 2015]
Pete Gardner, Nov 19 - present
Waltham Forest
Newham
North East Command Unit
Oct 18
Richard Tucker
[Richard was previously Waltham Forest Borough Commander, a post he held since 2015]
Hackney
Tower Hamlets
Central East Command Unit
Oct 18
Sue Williams, Oct 18 – Aug 19
[Sue was previously Tower Hamlets Borough Commander, a post she held since 2015]
Marcus Barnett, Aug – present
Harrow
Brent
Barnet
North West Command Unit
Nov 18
Simon Rose, Nov 18 – March 19
[Simon was previously Barnet Borough Commander, a post he held since 2016]
Sara Leach, March 19 – present
[Supt Louis Smith is providing maternity cover for Sara Leach as of Jan 2020]
Lewisham
Greenwich
Bexley
South East Command Unit
Nov 18
Simon Dobinson
[Simon was previously Greenwich Borough Commander, a post he held since 2016]
Haringey
Enfield
North Area Command Unit
Jan 19
Helen Millichap, Jan 19 – April 19
[Helen was previously Haringey Borough Commander, a post she held from 2016]
Treena Fleming, April 19 – present
Lambeth
Southwark
Central South Command Unit
Jan 19
Simon Messinger, Jan 19 – Feb 2020
[Simon was previously Southwark Borough Commander, a post he held since 2016]
Colin Wingrove, Feb 2020 – present
Kensington & Chelsea
Westminster
Hammersmith & Fulham
Central West Command Unit
Feb 19
Rob Jones,Jan 18 – April 19
Helen Harper April 19 – present
Bromley
Croydon
Sutton
South Area Command Unit
Feb 19
Jeff Boothe, Croydon Borough Commander since 2016, acted as BCU commander for much of the preparation period in 2018.
Dave Stringer, Nov 18 – present

FNOs

Tony Devenish: From May 2016, please provide a monthly breakdown of the number of arrests and the number of these where the person arrested was a foreign national, please break this down to EU and non-EU nationals.

The Mayor: Please seeattachedthe requested data for the period specified.

Police covenant

Tony Devenish: Do you support the government introducing a police covenant, and what more can you do in London to support police officers?

The Mayor: Police officers perform an invaluable role in keeping us all safe, often in challenging and sometimes dangerous circumstances.
I support the introduction of a police covenant that recognises their contribution and sacrifice and ensures they are not disadvantaged because of their commitment.
The Commissioner and our brave police officers have my full support. I have invested heavily in policing, taking difficult decisions to raise the policing precept of council tax and reinvesting business rates.
I will continue to lobby the government for the resources that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) needs and deserves. So far, the Government has confirmed only 1,369 additional offices. Both I and the Commissioner are clear that London needs at least 6,000.

Investment from City Hall in Policing

Fiona Twycross: What has the level of City Hall investment been to MOPAC in each year since 2010? (by City Hall investment I refer to the total contribution raised by the Mayor which is allocated to MOPAC including the police precept, other council tax contributions and business rates allocated to the MOPAC and any other Mayoral funding which is allocated to MOPAC).

The Mayor: Please see theattached spreadsheet.
I have increased the amount of funding available to the Met compared to the previous Mayor. In Boris’s second term City Hall provided the MPS with an average council tax funding of £564m per year.In 2017-18 I provided £592m, in 2018-19 I provided £641.4m and in 2019/20 will provide £725.2m. The final budget for 2020/21 has provided a further increase to £767.1m.
Through exercising powers around usage of Business Rates I have allocated £400m to MOPAC resulting in greater certainty around officer numbers and contributing to a safer Capital city.

Missing Furniture

Peter Whittle: How is the Metropolitan Police’s search for furniture missing from the House of Commons progressing? 3
3https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/14/former-commons-photographer-mark-duffy-home-raided-by-police-over-stolen-furniture

The Mayor: I have received the following update from the MPS:
Items were observed within the subject’s personal website that appeared to belong to Palace of Westminster, following an investigation it was established that the items were in fact replicas therefore the alleged offence was not substantiated.

Day' celebrations

Susan Hall: Can you list how many national or international awareness/celebration 'days' were acknowledged or marked via GLA communication channels in 2019?

The Mayor: Below is a table detailing thenational or international awareness/celebration 'days' acknowledged or marked via the Mayor of London, London Gov, and London Assembly social media channels in 2019.
Mayor of London
London Gov
London Assembly
January
New Year
New Year
New Year
Pongal
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
London Air Ambulance's 30th birthday
National Obesity Awareness Week
Holocaust Memorial Day
February
LGBT History Month
LGBT History Month
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Fizz Free February
World Cancer Day
Safer Internet Day
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
Time to Talk Day
Heart Unions Week
Beginning of Syrian Civil Unrest
Ash Wednesday
March
Purim
St Patrick's Day
International Women's Day
Holi
World Down Syndrome Day
St Patrick's Day
Anniversary of the Westminster terrorist attack in March 2017
Nowruz
Transgender Day of Visibility
Mother's Day
Mother's Day
International Women's Day
World Oral Health Day
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Social Prescribing Day
Anniversary of the Westminster terrorist attack in March 2017
World Down Syndrome Day
Birthday of the World Wide Web
Ash Wednesday
St David's Day
IsraabdMi'raj
Transgender Day of Visibility
April
Passover
Vaisakhi
Stephen Lawrence Day
Vaisakhi
London Schools History Day
Lesbian Day of Visibility
Easter
St George's Day
1999 London nail bombing attacks
St George's Day
Real Nappy Week
1999 London nail bombing attacks
Vaisakhi
InternationalLabourOrganization WorldDay for Health and Safety at Work
Orthodox Christian Easter
Lesbian Day of Visibility
ImmunisationWeek
Stephen Lawrence Day
Tamil New Year
National Stalking Awareness Week
International Roma Day
Autism Awareness Week
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
Vaisakhi
May
Ramadan
May Day
Firefighter Memorial Day
Anniversary of Manchester Arena terrorist attack
London History Schools Day
Ramadan
1994 Rwandan Genocide
Ramadan
Europe Day
Dementia Action Week
Mental Health Awareness Week
Vesak Day
Walk to School Week
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
Bank Holiday
Mental Health Awareness Week
Dementia Action Week
International Nurses Day
May Day
Europe Day
Yom Ha Shoah (Holocaust Memorial Day)
Firefighters Memorial Day
International Workers' Day
Eid al-Fitr
Africa Day
June
Armed Forces Day
Eid
Eid
Windrush Day
Windrush Day
D Day
Clean Air Day
Clean Air Day
National Fish and Chips Day
World Refugee Day
MathsWeek
Grenfell anniversary
Anniversary ofFinsburyPark Mosque attack
Creativity and Wellbeing Week
National Refill Day
Gypsy, Roma &TravellerHistory Month
Bring Your DogToWork Day
Grenfell anniversary
Armed Forces Day
Cervical Screening Awareness Week
Tower Bridge birthday
Pan-London Youth Day
Windrush Day
Bike Week
Anniversary ofFinsburyPark Mosque attack
Tech Week
Father's Day
D Day
London Bridge attack anniversary
World Environment Day
Take Your Dog to Work Day
Small Charities Week
Volunteers' Week
Rathayathra
Refugee week
Adult learner's week
International Humanist Day
Father's Day
Anniversary of Stonewall Riots
July
7/7 Day of Remembrance
National Park City
Pride
Black Pride
Climate Action Week
7/7 Day of Remembrance
Pride
Africa Writes 2019
1212 Great Fire of London anniversary
International Busking Day
African Fashion Week
Big Ben's birthday
World Hepatitis Day
World Emoji Day
Climate Action Week
Black Pride
Anniversary of Srebrenica
Dharma Day
August
Africa Fashion Week
Slavery Remembrance Day
International Beer Day
Cycle toWork Day
Book Lovers Day
A Level Results Day
Eid al-Adha
Night Tube birthday
Anniversary of the Marchioness disaster
Slavery Remembrance Day
Bank Holiday
GCSE Results Day
European Day of Remembrance for Victims ofStalinsimand Nazism
Eid al-Adha
September
Rosh Hashanah
Car Free Day
Organ Donation Week
Car Free Day
World Suicide Prevention Day
Rosh Hashanah
WorldAlzheimersDay
Amigo Month
London Fashion Week
9/11 anniversary
World Suicide Prevention Day
999 Day
International Day of Peace
South Africa Day
October
Diwali
Diwali
Diwali
National Hate Crime Awareness Week
Halloween
Yom Kippur
Black History Month
Black History Month
Hate Crime Awareness Week
UN Day Eradication of Poverty
World Mental Health Day
Restart A Heart Day
Ladbroke Grove rail crash anniversary
UN Day of the Girl
World Mental Health Day
World Homeless Day
Nigerian Independence Day
International Older People's Day
Sukkot
Gandhi's birthday
National Coming Out Day
London Challenge Poverty Week
Navratri
Somali Week
November
Diwali
National Tree Week
Remembrance Sunday
Guru Nanak's 550th Birthday
Living Wage Week
Armistice Day
National Youth Work Week
London Flood Awareness Week
Armistice Day
Armistice Day
Remembrance Sunday
National Youth Work Week
Mitzvah Day
Diwali
HIV Test Week
Equal Pay Day
Interfaith Week
Living Wage Week
National Lottery 25th Anniversary
Transgender Day of Remembrance
National Tree Week
White Ribbon Day
London Flood Awareness Week
BandChoorDivas
St Andrew's Day
Croydon tram disaster anniversary
December
Chanukah
Chanukah
Christmas
Christmas
Human Rights Day
New Year
World Aids Day
International Day of Disabled Persons
Local Charities Day

Acid attacks

Shaun Bailey: What specific action are you taking to tackle offences involving acid and corrosive substances?

The Mayor: The MPS tracks offences monthly for trends in the type of offences where a corrosive substance has been used, and importantly where they are occurring. This allows BCU’s to deliver a local response and may include a focus on particular offenders for enforcement activity as well as other tactics. All MPS officers have been trained in the response to an attack and on the joint CPS protocols to follow to ensure positive criminal justice outcomes are delivered. The MPS remains a key member of the national working group and are involved in the ongoing development of solutions for street-based testing that will support the new offences of the Offensive Weapons act, when introduced. The MPS continues to see a reduction in offences since the peak in the year 2017, with offences in 2019 being 43 per centless than that period.

Taser use by the Met in 2019

Caroline Pidgeon: For the year 2019 can you please provide data on how many times a taser was used by Met officers, broken down by type of use?

The Mayor: Taser deployments, including a breakdown of tactics used, are published as part of the Metropolitan Police Service Use of Force dashboard. This is available on its website via the following link:https://www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/use-of-force-dashboard/

Officers joining other forces

Unmesh Desai: How many MPS officers joined other forces in each of the following years: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019? Please also provide how many officers joined the MPS from other forces in each year.

The Mayor: Please see the table below for the number of officers who have transferred or re-joined the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and those that have left to join other forces.
Year
Transfers & Rejoiners to the MPS (FTE)
Left MPS to join other Police Force (FTE)
2016
300
219
2017
74
375
2018
281
336

National Taser Fund Application (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide information on how much MOPAC has bid for under the National Taser Fund and approximately how many tasers this will fund should they receive the full bid?

The Mayor: The Home Office fund of £10m limited expenditure to taser devices and warranties only, with an expectation that individual forces would fund equipping the additional devices for service e.g. consumables and training. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has therefore bid for £1.9m.
It is not possible to confirm the number of tasers this will fund, as this will depend on the type of tasers purchased – X2 or T7. The T7 (new device) has not yet been included on the Home Office national framework.

National Taser Fund Application (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide details of how much you expect the associated costs to be should MOPAC be successful in receiving the full amount requested through the National Taser Fund?

The Mayor: The full cost of funding the uplift to 10,000 specially trained taser officers, including purchase of the devices, associated equipment, training etc is £7m in 2020/21, £5.8m in 2021/22 and ongoing costs of £6.9m thereafter.
The Home Office one off funding of £1.9m will offset the costs in 2020/21.

Met Police Officers and Banned Far-Right Groups (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Following the deeply concerning news that a Met police officer was arrested on suspicion of being a member of a banned organisation linked with right-wing terrorism, how will you be working with the Met to ensure that no other police officer or member of staff is part of any proscribed far-right group or organisation?

The Mayor: All police officers and staff are vetted when they join the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).This vetting includes, as standard, a ‘Counter Terrorism Check’. Information that an individual is associated with extremism is taken very seriously.
Membership of a proscribed organisation is a criminal offence and as such is subject to a range of overt and covert intelligence collection and monitoring processes across the MPS and national counter terrorism network.
The College of Policing (CoP) Code of Ethics governs the conduct of police officers both on and off duty, and guides action, including disciplinary proceedings, where an officer behaves in a manner which undermines public confidence.
This empowers the MPS and Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to take disciplinary action in addition to criminal proceedings, where this is proportionate and necessary.
Furthermore, the MPS provides a range of reporting mechanisms including confidential reporting for the public or workforce to report any concerns.

Met Police Officers and Banned Far-Right Groups (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: With Sonnenkrieg Division being added to the list of proscribed neo-Nazi groups in the UK in recent weeks, and other groups such as the System Resistance Network being recognised as aliases of already banned far-right groups; what action and monitoring is being undertaken to ensure that no Met officers or staff are members of such groups or organisations?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2020/0794.

Police Complaint Changes (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: How many additional staff will MOPAC be recruiting in order to take on its new responsibilities surrounding police complaints that have come from the Policing and Crime Act 2017?

The Mayor: The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) has recruited five additional staff to undertake its new responsibilities concerning complaint reviews.

Police Complaint Changes (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Following the announcement of additional responsibilities for MOPAC in the area of public complaints against the police it was stated “as the reforms take effect, MOPAC will also be reviewing the level of information about public complaints that is made available to the public, via both MPS and MOPAC channels.” Can you provide some more information on how this is going to be reviewed and who you will be consulting when undertaking such a review?

The Mayor: The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have already provided updated information on the revised processes for the submission of public complaints and applications for review on both the MPS and MOPAC websites.
MOPAC is working with both the MPS and Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to consider what further information, including data should be available publicly.